7 Big-Time College Football Teams That Are Expected To Get Blown Out In 2013

Today, Golden Nugget released its “250 College Football Games Of The Year”, unveiling the (early) spreads for most of the major games this upcoming season. This is a very exciting moment for many fans, because it allows them to see how their team is expected to stack up to the rest of the competition, and what the chances are of having a really spectacular year.

But there’s a flip-side to this as well — some fans receive some very eye-opening, no-so-fun news — they could be in for a long season. We thought we’d look at several big-name matchups that will be played in 2013, but ones that aren’t even expected to be close.

Here they are:

Alabama -17.5 vs Virginia TechSaturday, August 31stGeorgia Dome

The Hokies have won at least 10 games in eight of the past nine seasons, so it’s safe to say that Tech fans have big expectations. Those expectations could be tempered very early in the season. The Hokies will be led by senior signal-caller Logan Thomas, but he’s going to have to play an unbelievable game if he wants to beat the defending champs.

Both Oklahoma and West Virginia lost high-profile quarterbacks to the NFL in Landry Jones and Geno Smith. Fortunately for Oklahoma, Blake the Belldozer is ready to step in. West Virginia has won at least a share of its conference title in six of its past 10 seasons, and has won at least nine games in seven of the last eight.

There’s no doubt that Tennessee has been in a slump for several years, but there’s also no disputing that the Volunteers football program is a great one. Butch Jones will try to bring back the success that Phil Fulmer had, but it’s not expected that he’s going to have a fun time against the Oregon Ducks. Oregon may have lost Chip Kelly, but the team is still absolutely loaded with talent.

Admittedly, California is a bit on the mediocre side compared to some of these other programs. But still, the Golden Bears managed to capture the Pac-10 crown back in 2006, and they aren’t a team that opponents expect to just wipe the floor with. Being a nearly five touchdown underdog? That hurts.

Ohio State -23 vs IowaSaturday, October 19thOhio Stadium

Iowa has a 6-4 bowl record in the Kirk Ferentz era and has claimed at least a share of the Big Ten title twice in that span. But Urban Meyer and the Ohio State Buckeyes could be a juggernaut this year. With bowl eligibility back, look for the Bucks to run opponents off the field as they try to return to the national championship.

It’s not surprising that Alabama is expected to blow out multiple teams. In fact, Alabama is favored by double-digit points in all but one of its games this season, and by 17 points in all games except against LSU and Texas A&M. On the Arkansas side, it was only two years ago that Bobby Petrino had the Razorbacks competing for SEC titles — new head coach Bret Bielema is looking to get things going again. Not sure Arkansas would stand a chance in this game even if Darren McFadden came back.

Ohio State -16 vs Penn StateSaturday, October 26thOhio Stadium

Penn State fans were expecting the worst last season after a humongous program shift following the departure of Joe Paterno, but ended up surprised as the Nittany Lions went 8-4. Even though a large number of wins have been vacated, there is no question that PSU was an absolute power in college football for a long, long time, and Bill O’Brien looks like he will be able to keep the program there. Of all the games on this list, this is the expected blowout that could turn into an upset special.